Folding-machine.



R. F. DOWNEY.

FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION H LED FEB. 16. m5.

1,246,403; Patented Nov. 3, 1917;

R. F. DOWNEY.

FOLDING MACHINE.

- APPLICATION -FILED 8.16. 1915.

-, Patented N0v.-13, 1917.

' 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

11111 lszulglril A F R. F. DOWNEY.

FOLDING MACHINE. ;APPLlCATl0N HLED FEB. 16, I915- 1346,4103 Patented Nov. 13, 1917. v

4 SHIEETS-SHEET a.

I /4 BSb/WWWXMV Z wwwfl R. F. DOWNEY.

FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 16, I915.

1,246,403. Patented Na. 13, .1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- mm d;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. A

RICHARD r. nowlvn or MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR To HUGO LOEWENBACH,

or MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

FOLDING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented N .13, 1917.

Application filed February 16. 1915. Serial No. 8,553. N i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD F; DowNnY, a citizen of the United States,.and resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in F olding-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full clear,and exact description thereof.

lvly invention has for its object'to provide a simple, effective and accurate sheetfolding machine,'adapted more particularly for folding sheets of paper for insertion in envelope being soconstructed and arranged that a circular mandrel is adapted to grip one corner of a sheet and coil the same in the form of a hollow tube, which tube projects from the mandrel, there being means for supporting and guiding the outer end of said tube coincident to its formation. Thereafter means is provided for releasing the guide means and first flattening and thereafter introducing the flattened free end of the tube into a creasing mechanism through which the tube is drawn to provide longitudinal folds throughout the length of the tube and thus transversely crease the sheet of paper to Permit its insertion in an envelop. The construction and arrangement also embodies, under certain conditions, means for bending the hollow tube intermediate of its ends prior to the same being introduced into the creasing mechanism, whereby a transverse fold of the end of the tube is a so effected. Thus it will be seen that the paper may be folded by the above operation to fit within an envelop, and the invention further contemplates a selective control of the transverse tube folding means to provide for envelope of differing lengths.

v ith the above and other objects in view the invention consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts as set forth hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings and subsequently claimed. a

In the drawings Figure 1 represents a longitudinal sectional view of a folding machine embodying the features of my invention, the section being indicated by line 11 of Fig. 3; Fig. 2, a cross-section of the same, the section being indicated by line '2-2 of Fi 3 and the creasing rollers being removed to more clearly show; the actuating means therefor; 1 h

Fig. 3, a plan view of the folding-machine with parts, broken awayand in section to show details of vconstruction more, clearly; :Fig. 4, a longitudinal sectionalivi'e-w of the machinetaken upon a plane as indicated byline 44 of-Fig. 3;

Figs. 5 and 6, enlarged detailqsectional views showing themarginal mandrel and its associatedmechanism in its starting and finishing positions; I

Fig. 7, a detailed sectional view illustrating the mandrel actuating rack and its connections, the section beingindicated by line 77 of Fig. l;

Figs. 8 to 12 inclusive illustrate diagrammatic views of the various steps in the operation of the machine to fold a sheet completely and Fig. 13, a perspective view of the folded sheet.

Referring by characters to the drawings, 1,1, 1 and 1 represent the side and end Walls respectively of a. rectangular frame, the side wall 1 of which carries a stud 2 for the reception of a revoluble circular mandrel 3, the same being formed with a guide flange 3 having a circular margin-receiving rim 3". The web portion of the circular mandrel is provided with a hubt' that is revoluble upon the stud and this hub also 7 carries atoothed pinion 4 adapted to mesh with the teeth of a rack-bar 5 that is slidably mounted in bearings formed in theside- Wall 1. The outer end of the rack-bar terminates with an abrupt shoulder 5, which shoulder engages an actuating lever 6, the same beingintermittently coupled to the rack-bar by a lip of a yieldable stop-dog 7, which stop-dog is secured to the rack-bar and has a nose 7 that is adapted to engage lock and release tappets 8 and 8' respectively, which form part of a plate 8 that is preferably adjustably secured to the frame-wall 1. V

The actuating lever 6 isrigidly mounted upon a transversely disposed rock-shaft 9, which shaft is mounted in bearings that project from the side walls of the frame. This oscillatory drive-shaft also carries a'beveled gear-:wheel' 10 that meshes with a; beveled parallel relation to its aXis.

The sheetreceiving rim 3ofthe mandrel carries a spring controlled gripplng tongue 13, which tongue is normally-adapted to press downwardly upon the face of the rim.

The rio )in ton 'ue 13 is provided with a l a: a i

tappet' pin 1% pro ecting rearwardly therefrom for en a ement with a cam aw l5 that projects from the rack-bar 5, the said cam-jaw being so positioned that when the tongue is in a vertical plane relative to the mandrel axis, it is lifted in opposition to its spring resistance, whereby a receiving throat is formed between the opposite faces of the tongue and mandrel rim for the reception of a corner of the sheet to be folded. The cam jaw is also provided with a stop-shoulder 16 which engages the tappetpin let to prevent overthrow or further ro tation of the mandrel in its clockwise recovery movement, whereby the parts are held in proper sheet-receiving positions. The mandrel, in this exemplification of my invention, is predeterminedly arranged to make approximately one and a half turns forming the flat sheet into a hollow tube and thereafter the mandrel comes to rest. In order to release the gripping engagement of the sheet by the gripping tongue 13' after the same has come to rest, I provide a camcontrolled release-shoe 17, the position of which shoe'is normally above the path of travel of the tongue tappet-pin 14, but is moved downward at the proper time with relation to rotation of the mandrel, whereby it engages the tappetpin and lifts the tongue clear of the face of the mandrel-rim, thus releasing the tube. In order to effect a time movement of the release-shoe 17, the same is mounted upon a reciprocative rockarm 17, which rock-arm is pivoted to the side wall of the frame and normally holds the release shoe in an idle position by means of a spring 17". The rock-arm is engaged by a cam 18, which is secured to the oscillatory drive-shaft 9.

In order to effect a tight roll of the sheet margin upon the mandrel rim, I provide a presser-foot 19, which, as shown, is secured to the rear wall 1" of the frame and is adapted to yichliit-gly engage the paper as it is coiled about the rim thereunder and, to limit the movement of the actuating lever 6 on its forward or idle stroke, I provide a buffer-pin 20, the said actuating arm being limited on its working stroke by engagetended arms of a yoke 21, the same being pivotally suspended between the rails. The preponderance of weight of the yoke 1s positioned below the pivot-point thereof, whereby the tucker-bar strand is held by gravity in a vertical direction with respect to its point of oscillation. The siderails of the basket are also braced by a saddle which performs thefunction of a stripper in, connection with the tucker-bar when the, basket is elevated at its outer end. Projecting, upwvardlybetween the basket rails are a pair of circular guide binders 23, .3, which binders together form a part of a circle for the support and guidance. of the outer end of thesheet when it is wound in tube form. These guide binders are provided with car extensions which are connected by springs 23", whereby said binders are drawn together to form their normal circular contour. Cam-arms 24 project from the guidebinders for engagement with the side rails of the basket, whereby the guide-binders are spread apart when the basket is elevated. The said guide binders 23, 23 are pivotally mounted upon a stud 2%, which projects from one wall of the frame. Thus the guide binders are rendered expansible and contractible and are positioned in approximately axial alinement with the mandrel and spaced therefrom-..

A skeleton frame including end plate portions 25 and connecting bars 25 is secured to. the rear wall 1 of the main frame bv integral connection of one of the plate pot tic-ns with the wall to project over the main frame and above a table 26, which table secured to. the upper portion of said main frame. Arbors 27 of creasing rolls are journaled in the frame 25 and the engaging faces of these creasing rolls are positioned over the tucker-bar 21, w iereby said tucker bar, when lifted, is caused to pass between the en 'aging surfaces of the rolls. The creasir g rolls carry pinions 28 which are engaged by the opposite toothed surfaces of a rack-bar 29, whereby motion is imparted to the rolls. The rack-bar is obliquely disposed with relation to the rolls and is suitably supported in a guide-block hat projects from the base of the roll-carrying frame. One end of the roll-actuating rack bar is connected by a strap 29, the opposite end of which strap is secured to a crankarm 30 that is carried by the cam-shaft 11. The table is provided with one edge in alinement with the rim of the mandrel, which edge carries an upturned guide flange 26, whereby a marginal edge of a sheet to -irgzaegios be folded is guided to the mandrel. The opposite edge of the table carries an adjustable gage-strip 31 for the purpose of guiding the juxtaposed edge of the sheet to be folded and the adjustable feature is for the purpose of accommodating different widths of sheets.

In operation, a sheet A is disposed upon the table between the guide flange and gagestrip, and is fed forward to a position under the gripping tongue of the mandrel, its upper edge being alined parallel with the axis of the mandrel due to its engagement with a gage-lip 23', which forms an'e:=:-

tension of the guide-binder 23, the said extension bein above the plane of the table. The actuating l ver 6 is now started up its working strcke, as indicated by the row, whereby motion is imparted to the mandrel through its gear connection with the actuating arm. At the start of rotation of themandrel, the gripping tongue tappet-pin 1a is released from its engagement with the cam-jaw 15, whereby the corner of the paper is clamped to said mandrel. Further movement of the actuating lever 6 will cause the mandrel to rotate approximately one and a halr turns and the upper edge of the sheet, which is initially engaged by the guide-binder arm 23, 'ill follow the rotary movement of the mandrel, whereby said sheet is formed into a tube that is lapped approximately cne-iali turn. it the completion of this rotary movement of the mandrel it will be observed that' the nose 7 of the stop-dog 7 will engage the release tappet 8', whereby said stop-dog is forced backwardly to be freed frcm its coupling union with the actuating lever. i-ience there will be no further movement of the mandrel and the gripping tongue thereof will come to rest at approximately apoint diametrically opposite that of its starting point. After the actuating lever is released from the rack-bar 5, further movement of said lever will first cause the cam-controlled roclterarm 17 to move downwardly, whereby the release shoe will come ito the path of travel of the tappet-pin l t to thus cause the marginal corner of the coiled sheet to be disengaged frcm the mandrel rim. Further movement of the actuating lever 6 will cause the cams 11 of the cam-shaft 11 to engage the side rails of the basket, whereby the same will rise. Coincident to this rise, it will be observed that the arms 24 of the guide-binders 23, 23, will be contracted by the side rails, whereby said guide-binder arms are spread apart or opened to permit the unsupported portion of the tubular sheet to be stripped from its forming position with relation to the mandrel. Thus the outer end of the tube is gradually raised and the tucker-bar which engages said tube intermediate of its ends will flatten out the different sized circular mandrels,

tube formation of the sheet as the latter comes in contact with the creasing rolls. Upon completion of the upward movement of the basket, the tucker-bar will crease the nection of the creasing rolls with the cam shaft 11 will cause said rolls'to rota whereby the sheet, which is now ld transversely and longitudinal 1 .2 I nriniy reased and red outwz-irdly {A tween the rolls to a position ace the opera or. Thus the creasing is completed.

It is obvious that, in some instances; the device may be arranged to crease sheets it different sizes by, for example, substituting under which conditions the lock and release tappets 8 and 8 can be adjusted to trip the rack-bare sooner or later in the cycle of operation. It is also apparentthat the creasing mechanism may be moved toward or away from the mai lrel "for varying the point of the longitudinal crease of the sheet and-it is also obvious that, in some instances, where narrow paper isused, the longitudinal creasing mechanism may be dispensed with, in which instance the extreme end of the tube would be caused to travel straight through the creasingrolls in place of. as shown, being folded back upon itselt before the creasing operation.

It is also apparent stroke of the actuating lever, said l ver will engage the shouldered end of the rack-bar 5 and cause the same to more in a recovery direction to impart rotation to the mandrel and, as the rack oar travels in this recovery stroke the back face of the stop-dog will engage the locking tappet 8, whereby the nose of said locking dog will e forced wardly in the path of travel of the actuating lever to automatically couple the same to the rack-bar, whereby upon the working stroke of the aforesaid lever the rack-bar is again manipulated.

I claim:

1. A sheet folding machine comprising a that, upon the idle mandrel havinga sheet-engaging rim adapted to receive one end of a sheet to be coiled thereon, means carried by the mandrel for grippingly engaging the edge of a sheet, means for imparting rotation to the mandrel whereby a sheet is coiled thereon in the form of a hollow tube, means for guiding the other end of the sheet during its tube formation, said guiding means being releasable upon completion of the tube forming movement of the mandrel, a creasing means positioned adjacent the said other end of the sheet and means for feeding the said outer end of the coiled sheet to the creasing means.

2. A sheet-folding machine comprising a mandrel having a margin-receiving rim, means for introducing a marginal edge of a sheet to the rim, means carried by the rim for engagement with the marginal edge, means for imparting rotation to the mandrel, whereby a sheet is coiled in the form of a hollow tube, means for guiding the outer end of the hollow tube during its formation, a vertically movable tucker-bar normally positioned under the hollow tube formed by the mandrel and intermediate of its ends, creasing rolls above the hollow tube in alinement with the tuckerbar, and actuating mechanism for the tucker-bar whereby the same is caused to flatten the tubular formed sheet against the creasing-rolls and to cause said tucker-bar to move between said rolls, whereby the flattened tube is fed through the aforesaid rolls to crease the same both in a transverse and longitudinal direction.

3. A folding machine comprising a revoluble mandrel having a sheet-engaging marginal rim, a spring-controlled tongue adapted to engage the rim whereby a sheet to be folded is gripped, an actuating gear mecha nism for the mandrel, an oscillatory lever, means for automatically coupling and uncoupling the gear actuating means in connection with the lever, a pivotal basket projecting outwardly from a position adjacent the face of the mandrel, cam actuating means for the basket in gear connection with the actuating lever, expansible and contractible guiding binders in approximate alinement with the mandrel, means associated with the basket for controlling movement of the guiding binders, a pair of engaged intermittently rotative creasing rolls positioned above and outwardly of the face of the mandrel and spaced therefrom, a tucker-bar carried by the basket in alinement with the engaging faces of the rolls, and means for raising the tongue in opposition to its spring tension.

4. A folding machine comprising a rotatory mandrel having a sheet margin receiving rim, a spring-controlled gripping finger carried by the mandrel for engagement with its rim, a pinion carried by said mandrel, a rack-bar engageable with the pinion, a stopdog carried by the said rack bar, an oscillatory actuating lever, tappet lock and release means for effecting release and lock of the stop-dog with the actuating lever, a camciated with the, tucker-bar.

5. A folding machine comprising av rotatory mandrel having a sheet margin receiving rim, a spring-controlled gripping fin er carried by the mandrel for engagement with its rim, a pinion carried by said mandrel, a rack-bar engageable with the pinion, a stopdcg carried by said rack bar, an oscillatory actuating lever, tappet lock and release means for effecting release and lock of the stopdog with the actuating lever, a cam-j aw for actuating the gripping finger when the same is moved to a sheet-receiving position, a canrshoe for actuating the finger when the mandrel has completed a rotatory movement, cam means associated with the actuating handle for operating the cam-shoe, a cam-controlled tucker-bar, means for moving the same across the axial line or the mandrel, driven creaser rolls positioned above and outwardly of the mandrel associated with the tucker-bar, a pair of circular expansible and contracti'ble guide binders positioned forwardly of said mandrel and approximately in axial alinement therewith, and means associated with the movable tucker-bar for actuating the same.

6. A sheet folding machine comprising a mandrel having a sheet engaging rim adapt ed to receive one end of the sheet to be coiled thereon, means carried by the mandrel for grippingly engaging the corner edge of a sheet, means for imparting rotation to the mandrel whereby the sheet is coiled thereon in the form of a hollow tube, creasing means positioned intermediate of the ends of the coiled sheet, and means for flattening and bending the coiled sheet at the intermediate point and for delivering the same to the creasing means.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, in the presence of two witnesses,

RICHARD F. DOlVNEY.

lVitnesses y N. E. OLIPHANT, M. E. Downer.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C, 

